


the trouble with “dating”

by orphan_account



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Closeted Character, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Gen, High School, changbin is lowkey jealous, this sucks imo but i need it out of my google docs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 19:22:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15955871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Minho whipped his phone out of his pocket and started furiously texting someone. His hands were shaking, and Hyunjin was frankly terrified. “I thought you were just being humble about it, but I guess you’re just really that stupid.”(hyunjin is temporarily and suddenly thrown into the world of fake dating, without any notice at all, and it seems everyone is handling it way better than he is)





	the trouble with “dating”

_Sophomore Year_

 

Hwang Hyunjin was in a relationship, and he didn’t even know it. Apparently everyone else did, though. They wouldn’t leave him alone about it - and the worst part was he had no idea what they were talking about. It’s been two days and at least five people have come up to him at lunch or during study hours to congratulate him.

 

He didn’t feel like asking (in case they had the wrong person) so he would just nod and smile.

 

One day while he was waiting for the bus, he decided to ask. He turned to his older friend, Minho and gave him a gentle tap on the shoulder.

 

“Am I... dating someone?”

 

Minho jutted his chin out and stared at him incredulously. This has got to be the first time they’ve properly made eye contact since they first met, and it honestly felt so weird. Hyunjin squinted.

 

“Oh my God.” Minho gasped, his voice a hushed tone in comparison to its usual volume. “You’re serious.”

 

They stared at each other for even longer. This was some kind of Freaky Friday situation. Each time Minho leaned in, Hyunjin did the same. “How could you not know who you’re dating?”

 

“No one told me! I didn’t even ask anyone out...to my knowledge.”

 

The bus rounded the corner and approached the stop, but neither boy made a move to stand up; not until the doors swung open, anyways. Usually they caught the afternoon bus with another friend, but he had been home sick all week with a wicked case of the chicken pox because he had the world’s weakest immune system and was always borrowing other people’s shit. Minho let his school bag slide off his shoulder, and stuffed it between his legs and the window. In the process, whacking Hyunjin several times.

 

Minho whipped his phone out of his pocket and started furiously texting someone. His hands were shaking, and Hyunjin was frankly terrified. “I thought you were just being humble about it, but I guess you’re just really that stupid.”

 

“Who is it?”

 

All he gets is a phone screen to the face. An extreme close up of Minho’s very colourfully worded chat with Chan (who barely ever remembered to text Hyunjin back, for God’s sakes)

 

He was still typing, churning out short replies every second or so in all caps. The most recent one caught Hyunjin’s eye immediately.

 

_CHANGBIN?????//!!111 DOES HE KNOW??_

 

Choking on his spit, he snatched the phone from Minho’s hand and held it up so close he could feel his eyes drying out. “How could I not know this? I feel like I would have noticed if I asked fucking Changbin out, of all people.”

 

“What? No, it wasn’t Changbi-....jesus. Some girl has been telling everyone around school that she got a secret admirer letter from you in her gym locker, and that you asked her out over text.”

 

“What girl?” He paled. “What _letter_?”

 

Minho shrugged.

 

“Second of all, how would she know if it was from me if it was a secret admirer?”

 

Minho shrugged a little more aggressively, reaching out to take his phone back. He went right back to texting, leaving the rest of the bus ride in total silence.

 

Hyunjin had the fortune of meeting the girl he was supposedly dating the next day in phys ed. Her name was Yeoreum (thanks, Minho) and she had initially freaked him out by running up to him from behind and yelling ‘yAH, hWANg hyunJIN’ right in his left ear.

 

A hand cupped against his skull, he turned around in dismay. The girl was so short she could’ve easily been mistaken for a freshman. The only thing that gave her away was her senior’s gym clothes. She was sweating profusely from her temples, mousy brown hair matted to her damp skin.

 

“I need to talk to you, real quick.” Then, without much of a window to accept or reject, Hyunjin was being ripped away from his fourth period class and pulled under a set of heavy bleachers. Panicked, he pulled the drawstring on his shorts to their tightest setting and tied them in a knot. He was not about to be assaulted by a 4’9 garden fairy caked in sweat.

 

“We’ve never met.” Yeoreum stated, sitting down on the dirt and pulling her legs up to her chest. “I’m Yeoreum Kang. I have some explaining to do.” She gestured for him to sit down and get comfortable. Hyunjin assumed he wouldn’t be back before gym class ended.

 

“Why? What do I have to do with this?”

“I’m the one who started the dating rumour. Why not? You’re popular… and attractive _and_ you’re visibly the biggest twink in the entire school district.”

 

Hyunjin squinted.

 

Before he could protest, Yeoreum held up a finger and continued on with her reasoning. “From one gay to another… I’m not about to get my ass suplexed out of the closet just because of a dumb rumour.”

 

The sun tucked itself away behind a puffy cloud and dimmed the area, making their hiding spot almost pitch black. Anything was better than running laps, at least. In sudden understanding and a bout of sympathy, Hyunjin sighed and motioned for her to continue.

 

“I guess someone found my twitter over the weekend and told a lot of people what was on it. I… I have a scholarship… I really can’t afford to lose it.”

 

Hyunjin hummed and nodded along. He felt for her, and since he wasn’t dating anyone officially… why not pretend to for a little while. Even if he had no say in the matter.

 

They came to an agreement in the span of twenty minutes. Hyunjin offered to hold up his side of the fake relationship for at least a week, then they would have _some_ kind of public breakup and they could peacefully go back to their normal lives - rumours hopefully at bay by then.

 

By day two, everything had gone to shit.

 

Chan (Hyunjin’s only senior friend) had a full blown and frankly inconsolable melt down. On the grounds that he was the last one to find out Hyunjin was dating someone. All of this happened in the middle of the lunch room, Hyunjin frozen in shock with a mouthful of half-chewed food threatening to choke him.

 

Reaching across the table, Minho and Jisung attempted to hold him down in his seat, pleading with him, saying “you’re not his dad! sit the fuck down and eat your lunch”

 

Yeoreum had walked in with Hyunjin in the first place and sat next to him quietly, not even looking up at the other boys occupying the table. Her cheeks were blushing a bright, embarrassed red. It took a good five minutes of convincing to get her to step foot in the cafeteria.

 

She had been eating in a bathroom stall ever since the rumour came out - avoiding everyone during the most vulnerable point of the school day.

 

“So this is Hyunjin’s mysterious other half.” Minho quipped, smiling brightly. “Nice to meet you… welcome to the squad.”

 

Seungmin looked up from his geometry homework and frowned. “That’s what this is?” He looked confused and a little disappointed, but that wasn’t new. The others, all on their phones, didn’t seem to care about the new addition as much as the previous boys had. Changbin had his earbuds in and was absently eating a cup of diced oranges, but every once in a while he would glance over at Yeoreum and Hyunjin curiously; silently.

 

Day three, they were still the talk of the school - and Hyunjin was paranoid at the state of their fauxlationship. Would it eventually start to quiet down? Or would he have to pretend to be the big _H.E.T.E.R.O_ until he died?

 

Laying in his grave, horrendously confused as usual.

 

Yeoreum waved a frantic hand in front of his face and brought his attention back down to planet earth. She had her long hair clipped back above her ears, concerned face exposed to the world for what felt like the first time since they met.

 

She was also wearing a shirt under her blazer that obnoxiously read “lol ur not my boyfriend” on it in comic sans. Hyunjin leaned forward to look at it, eyebrows furrowed and lips scrunched.

 

“Where the hell did you find that?”

 

“I made it.” She held it away from her body, looking down at the material in confusion.

 

“I can tell..”

 

Scowling, she aggressively linked arms with the taller boy, basically dragging him down the hallway beside her. They received the occasional stare from the minimal amount of students in the hall, but had the spotlight when they entered the library. Heads turned and voices turned to whispers, sharing comments in hushed tones.

 

Yeoreum lead Hyunjin to a crowded study table, encouraging him to take a seat in one of the two chairs available. The cold plastic seeped through his uniform pants and he grimaced, squirming away from the feeling.

 

A lanky girl with her stark black hair cut into a neat bob starred the two down like they were test questions, elbows propped up on the table top. She didn’t _look_ particularly friendly, but you can’t judge a book b-

 

“You’re violating dress-code _again_ , idiot.” She scowled, then glanced over at Hyunjin. “Who’s that.”

 

Yeoreum’s hands flew down to her blazer and worked quickly to button it up until the shirt beneath was concealed. Her gaze was flickering all around the table, watching as the other students pretended not to listen with their noses stuck in their books.

 

“I guess you haven’t heard the news! Ironic considering you were the one who started this whole rumour in the first place…”

 

The girl furrowed her brow and leaned in. A question and a challenge imminent in her eyes.

 

Yeoreum turned to Hyunjin and weaved her manicured fingers through his own, nails bitten and dirtied from carrying his skateboard. “This is my boyfriend, Hyunjin.”

 

In the spur of the moment, Hyunjin nodded hurriedly. “Yup!”

 

The other girl froze, eyes wide. She gulped around several efforts to retort. Finally she spoke up, voice cracking. “You can’t have a boyfriend!”

 

The librarian stood up at her desk and pointed at their table sternly.

 

“You’re a lesbian!”

 

Yeoreum’s eyes went wide; as did most of the population of the library’s. She slipped her hand away from Hyunjin’s under the table and placed it in her lap. The girl continued, enraged for some reason. “I saw your profile… we all did! You can’t just pretend like suddenly getting a boyfriend will make that all go away.”

 

A boy with a blonde two-block haircut weaseled himself into the conversation, which had by now become quite public anyways. “She could be bisexual.”

 

Bob-haircut rolled her eyes. “Is that why you decided to bring _him_ here? To prove to us that you’re not some undateable loser?” She paused. “To make me look stupid in front of all of my friends?”

 

“Fine! Whatever, I was wrong about you. I won’t apologize for exposing you - you deserved that.” Looking at her nails, she continued. “But there’s no way you’d be able to convince Hwang to date you unless he really did like you, so… you win.” Then, she stands up and packs her books away, swinging her bag strap over her scrawny shoulder.

 

“We’ll see what happens with the rumour from here on. I’m sure you’ll be forgotten like yesterday’s news soon enough.”

 

The bell rings, signalling first period, but Hyunjin and Yeoreum remain at the table. Quietly, they share the space.

“I think you might have dug yourself an even deeper hole, man.” Hyunjin said, wiping his hands down his face.

 

Yeoreum sighed to herself in contentment, then shook her head. “I think I’ll be fine. In two months I’ll graduate and I’ll never have to see any of these people again. I’m going to school out of state anyways.”

 

“Do we have to date for four months? I don’t think I can do that.”

 

“Oh.. God, no.” Yeoreum replied with a chuckle, “no offense. Now that everything’s pretty much taken care of and there’s like no chance of that rumour spreading any further - I think your job is all done.”

 

\--

 

Literally only a second or two after everyone sat down at the lunch table, the questions started raining in. Hyunjin was asked left and right where his “house elf” went. Did she finally realize how unhygienic you are? Couldn’t reach you to kiss you? What was it?

 

“Complicated.” He stated simply, then shrugged nonchalantly.

 

Changbin patted his shoulder and snuggled into his side, trying to hide the hint of a celebratory smile forming at his lips. “Sorry to hear that.”

 

“Nah, no worries.” Hyunjin chuckled, letting his arm fall slack across Changbin’s smaller shoulders. “It was just for fun. No hard feelings.”

 

Six months later, Hyunjin lied awake in bed and laughed to himself. Staring at his ceiling, he remembered the time he was in a comically short “relationship” and he realized that when Yeoreum said she wouldn’t talk to anyone from school after she graduated, she really meant it.

  
Truly the biggest, _fattest_ mood of the year.


End file.
